What is a bull market?
A bull market is a sustained period when prices are rising and investors feel optimistic. It isn't one good day — it's a trend that lasts weeks, months, or years, with higher highs and higher lows along the way. The name comes from the way a bull attacks: thrusting its horns upward. In a bull market, people are confident, buying is strong, and the saying goes that the trend is your friend.
What is a bear market?
A bear market is the opposite: a sustained period of falling prices and growing caution or fear. A common rule of thumb is that an index in a bear market has fallen about 20% or more from its recent peak. The name comes from the way a bear attacks: swiping its paws downward. In a bear market, selling dominates, and many investors wait on the sidelines for signs of a bottom.
It's a trend, not a single day
The key word for both is sustained. A single red day in a rising market doesn't make it a bear market, and one green day in a falling market doesn't end one. Markets move in waves, but the overall direction over time is what defines a bull or a bear. Step back and look at the bigger picture before deciding which one you're in.
What drives the shift
Markets swing between greed and fear. Strong earnings, economic growth, and falling interest rates feed optimism and push markets into bull territory. Recessions, crises, or rising rates feed fear and tip markets into bear territory. India saw this vividly in 2020: the market crashed sharply into a bear market early in the pandemic, then recovered into a powerful multi-year bull run.
Flip between bull and bear above until the difference feels obvious — then take the quick check below.